Radical Proposal for Educational Pluralism and The State’s Educational Neutrality Policy

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Eugene Matusov
Ana Marjanovic-Shane

Abstract

Currently, in institutionalized education, the balance between global and local forces is skewed in favor of the global through the State (and University) monopoly on educational philosophy. We think that the local has to be prioritized over the global in the balance of these forces. In our view, this promotion should occur both in depth (through open pedagogical experimentation and democratization, defining local values, creating a global dialogue), AND in breadth (through providing opportunities for students and parents to join and financially afford it). We propose that education has to be separated from the State. In our proposal, the State should focus on providing financial access to K-12 education for all citizens through redistribution of taxes while constraining itself through pedagogical neutrality: accepting any educational philosophy for public funding. In our paper, we will consider some of many diverse concerns raised by our colleagues in response to our radical proposal of the State’s educational neutrality, organized in a question-answer format.

Article Details

How to Cite
Matusov, E., & Marjanovic-Shane, A. (2016). Radical Proposal for Educational Pluralism and The State’s Educational Neutrality Policy. Dialogic Pedagogy: A Journal for Studies of Dialogic Education, 4. https://doi.org/10.5195/dpj.2016.170
Section
Editorials
Author Biographies

Eugene Matusov, University of Delaware

Eugene Matusov is a Professor of Education at the University of Delaware. He studied developmental psychology with Soviet researchers working in the Vygotskian paradigm and worked as a schoolteacher before immigrating to the United States. He uses sociocultural and Bakhtinian dialogic approaches to education. Contact address: School of Education, 16 W Main St. University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA

Ana Marjanovic-Shane, Chestnut Hill College Philadelphia, PA

Ana Marjanovic-Shane, is an Associate Professor of Education at Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia. She studies meaning making, imagination and creativity in children's play, language and in education from the Bakhtinian sociocultural perspective. Her recent focus are dialogic relationships and democracy in education. Contact Address: 1906 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19118, USA